The Way of Ancient Power

by Ben Wolf

  “Do you love him?” Calum blurted.

  Lilly blinked at him. “Axel?”

  “Falcroné.”

  She bit her lip. “Yes.”

  Calum shook his head. “You don’t sound sure.”

  “Like I said, I’ve known him my entire life, and he’s my cousin.” Lilly sighed. “We grew up together. He’s my best friend. Of course I love him.”

  Calum had to stop making eye contact again. It hurt too much to continue. “You don’t seem happy about this arrangement.”

  “What gives you that impression?” Lilly leaned forward and tried to meet his eyes, but he wouldn’t look at her. “Calum? Why won’t you look at me?”

  “It’s your face,” he blurted. “When you’re around him, your face and your expressions don’t match your words. And your body—” Calum searched for the right words. “—you’re not affectionate with him at all.”

  Calum actually had observed those things about the two of them. He’d noticed even before Avian’s announcement that night, but he hadn’t thought anything of it at the time. Now, in hindsight, it made more sense.

  “Hey.” Lilly sat up straight again, took hold of Calum’s chin and physically turned his head so he had to meet her eyes. “Let me make one thing perfectly clear. I am marrying Falcroné, and no one else. It is my duty to my parents, to him, and to my people.”

  Calum sighed. “Regardless of your feelings for him?”

  Lilly pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers. “I just told you that I love him.”

  “And I just told you I don’t believe that.” Perhaps Calum was saying too much, but at this point, what did he have to lose? “I believe you love him because you’ve known him all this time, but not romantically. And I believe you’re only going through with this because you feel obligated to.”

  “Calum, this may come as a shock to you, but I don’t care what you believe. If I say I love him, then I do.” Lilly stood up. “I don’t even know why I’m arguing this with you in the first place.”

  Calum looked up at her. He dared to press it further. “There must be something to it if you’re getting so flustered.”

  Lilly stared down at him. “Can’t you just be happy for me? What happened to the sweet, kind Calum I knew from not even a week ago? The Calum who gave thirty capes to my people in need at the base of the pillar? Where did he go?”

  “You stabbed him in the chest when you let Axel kiss you.” He stood up and matched her gaze, face-to-face. “And he died when your father announced your engagement.”

  Lilly shook her head. She looked as if she would burst into tears any moment, but instead she leaped into the sky. As she disappeared into the night air, Calum’s chest exploded with grief, and he buried his head in his hands.

  Had he imagined what he thought he’d seen? About her behavior with Falcroné? Or had he struck a nerve with her, and she just wasn’t willing to admit it?

  Either way, that was not how he’d intended that conversation to go, and now he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d made everything far worse for them both.

  On the afternoon of the engagement party, Ganosh swooped into Calum’s room with a black robe in his hands. “Forgive the intrusion, sir. The Premier asked me to bring this to you at once.”

  “Another outfit?” Calum folded his arms and forced a smile that didn’t match the ruins in his heart. “Don’t you think you’ve given me enough already?”

  “This is formal Windgale dress of the highest quality.” Ganosh spread the garment on Calum’s bed. “The Premier has spared no expense for you and your friends. Woven wool of the finest grain with a white Aerosilk undershirt.”

  Aerosilk? That fabric could’ve been used to make capes for the Windgales at the base of the pillars, yet the Premier had chosen to make a shirt for Calum instead, and presumably one for Axel as well. The fabric was soft and nice and shimmery and all that, but Calum couldn’t fly, so it wouldn’t have made a difference whether it was made of Aerosilk or burlap to him.

  Ganosh leaned forward, and his long, brown ponytail slipped from behind his back and draped over his shoulder. “The Premier will be very disappointed if you don’t wear this to the engagement party this evening. He specifically requested that I deliver this finery to you and that I ensure you wear it, according to our customs.”

  No sense fighting it. Calum held up his hand. “It’s alright, Ganosh. I’ll wear it.”

  Ganosh smiled and held out the Aerosilk shirt for Calum.

  Almost fifteen minutes later Calum scratched the spot on his neck where the black wool touched his skin.

  “Is it gonna itch like this all night?”

  “If you are not used to this quality of dress, there will be a certain measure of adjustment required on your part.” Ganosh folded his arms and examined Calum from head to toe. He hesitated, then he pointed at Calum’s feet. “Don’t you have anything other than those… atrocities on your feet?”

  Calum stared at his boots, then looked up a Ganosh. “What’s wrong with my boots?”

  “First of all, they’re brown and don’t match the robe. Second, they’re filthy and worn down. It’s only a matter of time before your toes pop out the front of the leather.” Ganosh rolled his eyes. “They simply will not do. Wait here. I’ll be back with replacements for you.”

  “You really don’t have to—” Calum stopped when Ganosh zipped out his door and disappeared. He sighed and scratched at his collar again.

  Was all of this necessary? Especially in light of his conversation with Lilly? Had Riley been well enough to travel, he would’ve left the very night Avian announced Lilly’s engagement to Falcroné. And maybe if he’d been lucky, he could’ve left Axel behind in the process.

  Within another fifteen minutes, Ganosh returned with a pair of black boots shined so perfectly that Calum could see his face in them.

  “These are much more appropriate.” Ganosh set them at Calum’s feet. Unlike his old boots, which would have flopped over on themselves, these stood upright like the Wisps who guarded Avian’s throne room—and they looked about as unforgiving, too.

  Calum sat on the bed and jammed his feet inside with Ganosh’s help, then stood up.

  Great. Itchy neck, and soon-to-be-sore feet. “I feel like I can’t move.”

  Ganosh grinned at him. “But you look wonderful. I’m sure you don’t yet understand how things work in our culture, but appearances are all that really matter at events like these.”

  “If you say so.”

  Ganosh scooped up Calum’s old boots and started toward the door.

  “Hey, where are you taking those?”

  “I’m going to drop them off the edge of the platform.”

  Calum chuckled at first, but Ganosh’s face showed no sign of amusement. “Wait, you’re serious?”

  “Of course I’m serious. That’s what we do with unwanted items.”

  “I never said I didn’t want them.” Calum stepped forward—albeit awkwardly—and snatched the boots from Ganosh’s hands. “Besides, it’s probably not wise to just drop things from the sky. What if they had hit someone below?”

  Ganosh shrugged. “The chances of that happening are infinitesimal.”

  Calum tilted his head. “They’re what?”

  Ganosh rolled his eyes again and sighed. “Small. Very, very small.”

  “Oh.” Calum wondered why he hadn’t just said that instead. “Even so, it can’t be good for nature to just toss your trash over the edge.”

  “I have no time to debate civics with a foreigner.” Ganosh jabbed his hips with his fists, elbows out. “Especially with a human. You have about a half-hour before the party starts. I suggest you walk around your room in those boots to break them in a bit before this evening, or your feet will rebel against you long before tomorrow morning.”

  No kidding. “Thanks, Ganosh.”

  Ganosh showed him the Windgale salute then darted out of the room.

  Calum took Ganosh’s advice
and clomped around the floor for a half-hour, but by the time he finished, his feet felt far worse than when he’d started. If it persisted, he might have to sneak out of the party and change into his normal boots.

  As a finishing touch, Calum pinned his Windgale medallion to the lapel of his robe.

  Magnus ducked under the door arch and stepped into Calum’s room. “Are you ready?”

  Calum eyed him. “You’re not wearing anything formal. How come you get to wear your breastplate and leather belt but I have to wear this stuff?”

  “Have you ever seen a Saurian wearing clothes of any sort, aside from armor?”

  “No, but I also haven’t seen that many Saurians in the first place.”

  “We do not stand on ceremony for anyone with our attire. We wear what we wear, if anything at all, and the rest of Kanarah can deal with it.”

  “Alright, alright. I don’t mean anything by it. I’m just making an observation.” Calum scratched at his itchy neck again. “Where’s Axel?”

  “He was not in his room. I suspect he will meet us at the party when he is ready.” Magnus clicked his talons on his breastplate. “I know he was displeased to hear the news of Lilly’s engagement.”

  He wasn’t the only one. “I guess we should go, then. No sense in being late.”

  Lilly pulled on her boots, then she stood and looked at her image in the mirror that hung from the crystal wall in her room. She pushed a stray lock of blonde hair behind her ear and admired her outfit again.

  Gold embroidery accented her rose-colored gown in swirls and spirals that started at her strapless corset top and reached down to the hem of her dress. A gold Aerosilk cape hung from her neck.

  She wished she didn’t have to wear it, but she couldn’t fly without it. She didn’t yet know what it would take for her to become a Wisp, but she looked forward to the day when her father would honor her with that promotion.

  A knock sounded on her door. “Come in.”

  The door swung open and Axel stepped inside. At first Lilly barely recognized him, clad in formal black Windgale robes with a burgundy Aerosilk shirt shimmering underneath.

  Someone had even taken the time to comb his dark hair into something more presentable than the curled mess it usually was—probably Ganosh. The only thing that hadn’t changed was his scruffy, unshaven neck and face, and the fact that he wore his sword at his belt.

  Despite how she felt about him in light of what he’d tried earlier, Lilly had to admit he cleaned up really well. His dark blue eyes looked especially striking, and the scar on his left cheek added a sense of intrigue to his presence.

  “We need to talk,” he asserted in the way that only Axel could.

  “You shouldn’t be in here.” Lilly faced him.

  He wore his golden Windgale medallion on his robe, a reminder of what he’d done both for her and for the Sky Fortress. Even so, this conversation was not going to happen if she could help it, not after the one she’d had with Calum.

  “And either way, we don’t have time to talk,” she continued. “The party has started by now, and I’m already late.”

  Axel’s gaze started at her eyes, then he scanned her from top to bottom. He shut the door, positioned himself in front of it, and folded his arms. “I’m not giving you a choice. We need to talk. Now.”

  Lilly’s vision darted to the marble vanity and the chair near her mirror, specifically in search of something—anything—she could use to defend herself from Axel if it came to that. Perhaps it was an irrational thought, but after what Roderick had put her through, she’d determined to never leave anything like this to chance again.

  “I have nothing to say to you.”

  He stepped toward her with his hands still at his sides. “Why did you let me kiss you if you were courting Falcroné?”

  Lilly bristled at his audacity, and she glanced at her vanity again. A hairbrush, a tin filled with crushed rose petals, a silver candle given to her by her late aunt Evangeline—all innocuous to the point that they wouldn’t help her if Axel tried something.

  “I didn’t let you. I pushed you away as soon as you started kissing me.”

  “You could’ve pushed me away before that, when I got close to you, but you didn’t.”

  “You’re a big guy, Axel. Pushing you away isn’t as easy as you make it sound.”

  The only other items within reach were two ivory hairpins that lay on her bed, both long with pointed ends. Lilly had elected not to use them in her hair tonight, but even so they wouldn’t do much good against Axel’s sword if he decided to use it.

  Still, they were better than nothing.

  “Had I known you would try to kiss me, I wouldn’t have come at all,” she countered. By the Overlord, she really didn’t want to have this conversation.

  “I don’t believe that.” Axel closed in on her. “I think you stopped because you saw Calum walk into the room.”

  What was with these boys not believing her? “Calum said the same thing, but I assured him that the reason I stopped kissing you wasn’t because I saw him walk in. It’s because I was about to announce my engagement to Falcroné.”

  “You don’t love him.”

  “I don’t need another person telling me what I do and don’t feel. Calum already tried, and it didn’t work then.” Lilly glanced at the hairpins on the bed again, but this time Axel’s dark-blue eyes followed. He’d noticed them, too.

  “Really?” he scoffed and motioned toward them. “Is that what you think of me? That after everything I’ve done for you, I would try to hurt you?”

  Perhaps she could dart around him and get to the door before he could try anything? Sure, she could get around him, but even if she did, she couldn’t reach the door and get it open in time. And with so much extra fabric in her cape for him to grip as she tried to get past…

  “Lilly.” Axel’s voice jarred her from her plotting. He stepped toward her again, this time with his arms outstretched to his sides. He must’ve known it would make it even harder for her to get past now. “I’m not gonna hurt you. I love you. I have since the moment I laid eyes on you.”

  “I know.”

  Axel huffed and took another step forward. “Of course you do. How could you not? It’s not like I tried to hide it.”

  Lilly nodded and backed up a step, then she chastised herself for it mentally. She couldn’t let him back her into a wall—it limited her options. One of General Balena’s first lessons. “Yes, it has been obvious, alright.”

  “And that’s how I know you didn’t push away from me just because of your courtship with Falcroné. I’ve been so obvious, and you haven’t tried to convince me otherwise, so—”

  “No,” Lilly interrupted. She couldn’t let that line of thinking continue. “You’re wrong. I like you just fine, but I’m not in love with you. I love Falcroné. Not you, not Calum. Falcroné. Crystal?”

  Axel’s jaw hardened and his gaze transformed into a glare. “No. Not crystal.”

  Speaking of Falcroné, where was he? She sure could use his help right now. “Axel, I’m leaving for the party. This conversation is over.”

  Axel’s face hardened with anger. “It’s not over ’til I say it’s over.”

  He started toward her.

  Chapter Twenty

  Lilly feigned a lunge for her hairpins, and Axel followed her trajectory toward the bed. Instead of going for them, Lilly reached back, grabbed her vanity chair, and slammed it against Axel’s shoulder.

  He let out a grunt, dropped onto the bed, then rolled onto the floor.

  Lilly leaped over him and zipped toward the door. She flung it open, but fingers clamped around her ankle.

  Axel looked up at her with rage in his eyes and gritted teeth. But amid those angry emotions, she also recognized deep, profound hurt.

  Rage, hurt, love, or hate, Lilly was leaving. She spun around and whipped her other foot at Axel’s face. Her boot connected hard with his jaw, and he let her go.

  Now free, Lilly zi
pped out of her room. She rounded a corner and smacked into a broad purple chest embroidered with golden arcs. She pushed away, ready to fight him too, but she stopped when she realized it was Falcroné.

  “Lilly?” He held up his hands, and the sleeves of his purple robe slid back on his muscular forearms. “Are you alright? Why are you breathing so heavily?”

  Lilly stared into Falcroné’s eyes and opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated.

  “I wonder where Axel is.” Calum craned his neck to peer at the small crowd of people not floating through the air around them. He figured Axel would be dressed more or less the same as him, but so were every other Windgale and Wisp in the room. “He should’ve been here by now.”

  Dozens of bronze lanterns hung from the throne room ceiling, each of them burning with flames that cast light through the multiple colors of glass that encased each one. The effect reminded Calum of a hundred tiny rainbows, captured and forced to enliven a dark space against their will.

  Colorful ribbons stretched overhead between the pillars, each of them tied into bows on the pillars themselves. Servers clad in black robes with white sleeves darted through the air with trays in their hands, each of them loaded with drinks or food.

  “Maybe he decided to stay in his room.” Magnus waved down one of the Windgale servers and snagged a glass of bright-green liquid from the tray he carried. He downed the drink in one gulp and tried to place the glass back on the server’s tray, but the server had already taken to the sky again. “Blasted Windgales. Too fast for their own good.”

  “That’s not like Axel. He never passes up an opportunity for free food. Speaking of which…” Calum snatched a wooden skewer loaded with grilled vegetables, fruit, and meat from another server’s tray as he hovered past. “…this looks delicious.”

  Just as Calum raised it to his mouth for a bite, a familiar voice stopped his motion. “What, not gonna share with your crippled friend?”